Search for man who jumped into Raritan Township river was misunderstanding

RARITAN TWP. — The man who jumped off a railroad bridge into the South Branch of the Raritan River on Saturday was taking a swim and the ensuing search by emergency crews was "simply a big misunderstanding," Raritan Township police said today.

Lt. Al Payne said that the 21-year-old man lives in Raritan Township but was camping on private property a couple of hundred yards from the river.

Temperatures were in the mid-80s on Saturday, and the man decided to take a swim after sunset. Payne said that the man later saw the commotion at the river but had no idea that people were searching for him.

According to John Kuczynski, chief of the detectives of the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, at 7:49 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, a fisherman called 911 to report that a man had jumped off the bridge into the river near the industrial section of River Road.

A man jumped off this bridge on Oct. 5.File photo by Rick Epstein

Today Kuczynski said that young man had greeted the fisherman and the fisherman's son and asked them if they wanted to cool off with him.

They declined the offer and watched as the man pulled off his T-shirt and jumped in the river. The sun had set about an hour and 15 minutes earlier.

The fisherman called for help because he didn't see the young man reach the riverbank, police said. The man had returned to his campsite in Readington Township.

Police said earlier that they identified the man because of clothing left behind.

Payne said today that the man "regularly" swam in the river and forgot to retrieve his "old" clothes.

The Raritan Township Police Department initiated the search on Saturday evening. According to emergency broadcasts, it included the Flemington-Raritan rescue squad, and the water rescue units of the Clinton and Branchburg rescue squads, plus a State Police helicopter equipped with a search light. The search was suspended at about 10 p.m.

The search resumed on Sunday and included personnel from the Readington Township Police Department and the Garden State Underwater Recovery Unit, Kuczynski said.

Kuczynski and Payne said that the young man had no idea that responders were looking for him.

"The person who saw him did the right thing, calling the police," Kuczynski said today, even if "everything was fine."

Payne said that the man who took the swim thought it was "weird" when fire and rescue trucks and a helicopter appeared nearby, but didn't make the connection to his jump in the river, because to him it was an ordinary activity.

"This is what he does," Payne said. The call that led to the search was "simply a big misunderstanding."